This Life take two
by Whisper Moonlight Rose
Summary: Daines dead, Numair is locked in his rooms and the kindom needs him. CHAPTER EIGHT IS UP! Daines death is slowly being revealed! Read and find out. And review. I won't write more elsewise!
1. Default Chapter

~ * This life *~  
  
  
  
DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! Ehem thanks.  
  
  
  
" Well, here it goes" Daine Whispered. Just as Numair bellowed "Daine No!!!!" The two men and women watched lost as the door exploded into their image of it with fire and energy. It was amazing how the small sound of Daine's last gasp echoed in their days and nights for years.  
  
Alanna paced out side of Numair's rooms. The plaque with Daine's name on it had been decorated with flowers by the animals. Numair hadn't left his rooms since that day. Soft crying could often be heard from inside, and sometimes loud wails. Jon watched Alanna pace. " Alanna, you can't keep a watch on that door all hours of the day." Jon whispered. In truth he wasn't moving either. Not until something happened. Alanna continued to pace. She stopped when she heard movement in the rooms.  
  
" Numair," She whispered quietly through the door. No answer. She sighed to her self and turned and continued to pace. Daine's funeral was two days ago and that was the only time that Numair had emerged from hiding after carrying Daine's limp body to the palace. He had uttered not a word but a slow trickle of tears caressed his face. Alanna finally sighed. " Jon, I'm going to get something to drink and see how the rest of the palace is coping, you watch the door and if anything happens call me straight away" she ordered then strode off down the corridor. Jon sat there and watched, emotionless. He had lost a friend, a wildmage and an amazing woman to one of his stupid mistakes. He blocked all emotion not wishing to feel anything. He had felt it when his mother and father died. He didn't want to feel it again. Alanna returned shortly, with a two cups in her hand. She knocked on Numair's door. " Numair, I have a drink here for you, do you want it?" she asked quietly. No answer. She sighed again then handed the drink to Jonathan. She sat next to her king and watched. Shortly later, the knight Kel walked by. She smiled at Jon and Alanna but then turned toward the door. The smile dropped. She knocked on Numair's door. " Numair, I have something urgent that I need to talk to you about, if you'd just open the door." No response. Kel turned towards Alanna and Jon they just shrugged. Looking back at the door she whispered " It's about Daine." There was movement inside. Jon and Alanna looked at each other. The door opened a crack. " Come in Sir Keldary." Came a small response. Kel slipped through the door. When she was safe inside she turned on Numair " Numair, you can't keep on doing this. Grieve yes, but don't hide. There are people out there that need you. Have you any idea that the kings champion has been pacing outside your door for the last couple of days. And King Jonathan hasn't left her side either. Do everyone a favor and grieve but get on with your life." She stared up at him. His dark eyes where red with crying. Emotion filled them and his face crumpled. Kel nearly feel over. She had the most powerful mage in the land crying on her shoulder. She patted his back. " Numair, compose your self for a little bit longer." He sniffled. " Sit, please Kel. What did you have to say?" he asked quietly. He poured her a drink of water then sat down himself. " You're a great person, Daine knew that. Everyone knows it. Why are you hiding?" She looked him square in the eye. He swallowed. " It's my fault she died. I should never have let her go. I should of seen it sooner." A tear trickled down his face. " What happened? I've heard everyone else's version but yours" " I don't want to talk about it." " Talk, it's the best way, maybe you might be able to move on" She was calm, her face held symphony but was cold otherwise. " It's along story, maybe you should ask Jon and Alanna they were there too." He looked into her eyes briefly then looked away. " I have a lot of time to hear it. I'd prefer to hear your side of it before I hear anyone else's" " Jon asked to meet me and Daine, there was some urgent news he needed to discuss with us. Daine had said that he could wait a little while longer he didn't need us there straight away. She had just wanted to spend some time with me. I persuaded her to go and she gave in." He looked up for comfort but continued. " Jon told us about some sort of newly found immortal. It was destroying all the towns and villages around it and he wanted us to investigate. Daine, Alanna, Jon and I set out the next morning. When we got there it was worse then what we had expected. Daine said she could handle it but..." Someone nocked on the door... 


	2. This Morning

~ * This Day *~  
  
  
  
DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! Ehem thanks.  
  
  
  
Numair sighed. " I'll talk to you later, Kel" she stood and left the room, rather disappointed about the conversation. She opened the door to an amazed Jon and Alanna. She bowed her respects and left the scene. Jon and Alanna watched the knight disappear down the corridor. How had she managed to speak to the mage? That's when they both realized that the door was still open and Numair was waiting for them inside. They quietly slipped in and closed the door behind them. The room hang with a tight tension. What were they going to say? They had all been there that fateful night, all the room was missing was the other person who had gone out with them. " I'm so sorry Numair." Alanna blurted out. He didn't say anything so she continued, " It wasn't your fault. We all could of realized what had gone wrong not just you!" Now he spun around to face them " YOUR NOT A BLACK ROBED MAGE!" he caught him self " I'm sorry, I didn't mean." " It's alright, you have every right to be mad." Jon butted in. He couldn't stand seeing his friend so fragile. The silence after that stretched out. Numair said nothing just searched his hands. Alanna went over to him and gave his arm a squeeze then left the room. Jon watched her go. " If you need anything, anything at all, just call me" he said when no reply came he left as well. Only when Numair heard the door quietly behind Jon did he allow him self to breath. He sat down with a sigh. What had really happened that night? Had he fooled him self into believing something had happened that hadn't actually come to pass? He picked up the bottle on the table and had a swing. He stared at the wall trying to recall what Kel had said. Should he come out of hiding? He kicked the thought away. He was a monster. He was going to die in this room for the sake and wellbeing of Tortall. They had entered the forest. Everything was fine until they had heard movement behind them. They were slowly getting surrounded. Jon, Alanna and Numair or stood still around Daine. She loudly protested tell them that she was able enough to protect her self. They had just ignored her. Then they had emerged from the trees. There were too many of them. They were all heavily clad in armor and weaponry.  
  
" I'm King Jonathan 2 of Tortall what are you doing in the forest?" he tried to keep his voice steady. One of the armed men stepped forward and bowed. He took of his helmet and they all gasped except for Daine when they saw that the he was a she. Everyone relaxed.  
  
" King Jonathan, we are glad that you heard our plea I am Casandra, Daughter of the lord of our town. Please let us accompany you to our town. These woods are dangerous in these times." Alanna looked at Jon. He nodded then turned to the woman. " We would be honored." They fell in after the company of armed men and probably women. Daine had signaled to Numair to listen. " I don't feel safe, something is wrong" she had whispered in his ear. " Don't be silly, Daine love, I'm sure everything is alright." He had replied. She was clearly not convinced but accepted it but stayed close by his side.  
  
He sighed when he heard a nock on the door. Why wouldn't people just leave him alone? He opened the door. Several hours had passed since Jon and Alanna had made an attempt to talk to him. Alanna passed him a dinner plate then smiled and left. He took it inside and lightly picked at it but left most of it aside. He cast a look out side to the full moon and heard Daine's voice whisper on the wind " Good night my sweet" He caught his breath and a tear trickled down a check. He whispered back " I'm so sorry Daine, So sorry for not being there for you. I love you" That was all he could manage before his head feel into his hands and he quietly sobbed. His shoulders heaved up and down to the rhythm of the sobs. He some how made it to his bed and lay there. He turned around to face the empty part of his bed that used to be filled with Daine. Her presence had yet to leave the area. And he strongly doubted that it ever would. He could almost imagine her lifting her head to him and brushing away his hair before giving him one last kiss before she fell asleep. He curled up on himself. 


	3. The Beginning of the End

~ * The Beginning of the End *~  
  
  
  
DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! Ehem thanks.  
  
The morning sunlight seeped through the windows and Numair opened a red eye. He closed it again and  
  
moaned to himself. He didn't want it to be another day. Using his magic he blocked all sunlight out of his  
  
room. He tried to curl up more but it wasn't possible. He eventually gave up and excepted that the next day  
  
was here, and he had to live it. He had to live it with out Daine. Just because he excepted it didn't mean that  
  
he had to like it. He was screaming inside as he tried to get on with something normal. It didn't work, when  
  
Kel entered she found him curled up in a large armchair. He wasn't crying loudly but it was visibly.  
  
Everything he did reminded him of her. Even this chair. He opened a tear stained eye to find Kel standing  
  
there. He un-curled himself.  
  
" Um, make yourself comfortable" He cleared his throat and looked up at her " I suppose you want me to continue?"  
  
Kel made her self as comfortable as she could on a chair situated near Numair. " Yes I do, I still think it  
  
would help you grieve. Raoul has given me the day off so I thought that I should come and talk to you."  
  
Numair attempted a smile, it wasn't very good.  
  
" The small town was fortressed like it was in the middle of a war. Alanna, Jon, Daine and me had waited for several minutes as code words and orders were yelled over the wall before we were allowed into the town. Daine had stayed by my side the whole time, clutching on to my hand. I had told her that everything was perfectly normal and there was nothing to worry about but it still didn't manage to convince her. I should of listened to her, if I had then she would still be alive." He paused, recollecting himself. He took a deep breath. " We were taken to a inn and told that we could stay there until the mess was sorted out. They still hadn't told us what was wrong. But they promised that we would be told in the morning. Casandra had given us directions to her fathers house and then left hastily. Everything was normal. We sorted our selfs out into rooms. Dinner was brought up to us and we all ate it together and talked about what could be wrong. None of us had a clue. Daine had stayed relatively quite the whole night. When I had asked her what was wrong she just said it didn't make sense. I left it at that knowing not to push her." He looked up  
  
at Kel she just said to continue. Numair's head was reeling. He supposed no one would ever really know  
  
the real story except Daine. And she was dead because of his mistake. But he would tell it the best he could  
  
" She was restless that night, kicking and moaning all night. She looked tired and worn out in the morning as if she had been fight a war of her own. I had asked her what was wrong. She looked at me blankly for a couple of seconds before saying she was fine, just had a bad night sleep. Personally she looked like a walking zombie and Jon and Alanna had said so too. After breakfast we made our way to Casandra's fathers place. The town looked like it had been a war as well. The streets were basically deserted, besides from the occasional young one running across the street. Daine had been edgy as well. And sometimes she looked like she had zoned out for a couple of seconds, sort of like she was seeing something. Every time we asked if she was alright she had just nodded and walked on. Jon and Alanna were arguing over something when she had zoned out again. But this time her eyes change momentarily and she had let out a quiet scream. When she came around again moment later she said she was fine and had walked on. I was confused. She had had her angry moments but she had never been rude. The lords house was grand, and possibly the only house that showed life in the whole town. He himself was a short man, but nice enough. He sat us down and told us to make our selves comfortable while he attended one more thing briefly. When he returned he looked shocked and suddenly very old.  
  
' if you haven't figured out yet our town is under seizure' He said, pointing out the obvious.  
  
' If you don't mind me asking from what?' Alanna asked blankly. Jon glared at her. She never worried about pussy footing around. The short man looked at her and blinked.  
  
' A new breed of immortals, they attack physically and mentally. They take over peoples minds, and draw them out side the town then either kill them or enslave them. Or, they drive the bearer insane enough that they have fits and die. A maid of mine has just died from that very symptom. We are able to bar them and keep them physically out of the town, but their mind power is too strong.' He looked very old and suddenly collapsed. Daine just stared their, she didn't move. I should of known something was wrong. None of us saw it though." Numair looked down on himself. He could remember it all too clearly. Because his room  
  
had been sealed from all sunlight neither of them noticed that the sun had gone down. Not until Alanna knocked and entered. She smiled at Kel and Numair and left the plate of food on a near by table then left. Numair sighed to himself. " I've managed to make half the palace scared of me I see then." He looked up at Kel.  
  
" No you haven't. We still need you, Alanna is just giving you the space you asked for." She smiled. " but unfortunately I have to go, Raoul will want me back" She got up  
  
" Thank you" He said quickly. She smiled and left him. As much as he loved talking he curled up on  
  
himself again. Dreading the next day, the next memory. A whisp of wind entered the room and made him  
  
shiver, on the wind he heard Daine's dying gasp. Tears brimmed his eyes. He curled up on the chair even more and feel asleep there, sobbing quietly to himself, unaware that a curly brown hair girl with blue gray eyes stood in the corner of his room. A tear trickled down her cheek. " I'm sorry Numair" she whispered. 


	4. Hate Today, Dread Tomorrow

~ * Hate Today, Dread Tomorrow *~ 

DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! **Ehem** thanks. 

NB: Thank you everyone who has posted a review and I'll try to make it as unpainful for you as I can…I suppose most you can guess what is wrong and how she is going to die…ah but I'm twisted so you never know! Any way keep on r&r and thank you again to everyone! 

The old man lay on the floor his eyes wide and shocked. Alanna, Jon and Numair all rushed to his side. 

Everyone except Daine. She stayed where she was, coldly staring at the dead mans body. No emotion 

showed on her face. She only looked up when someone called her name. Her reaction was slow, as if she 

wasn't there. A smirk appeared on her face and Numair looked up at her and frowned. He came over to her 

and looked her straight in the eye. 

' Daine?' He asked carefully. She looked up into his eyes and he nearly fell over backwards. Her eyes 

weren't her usual gray-blue they had changed into a deadly blood red. He gulped. And tried to call to 

Jonathan and Alanna but his throat caught on itself. He watched her carefully but he was screaming inside. 

Suddenly she let out a small scream and her body lifted up on it self before her eyes changed back to 

normal. 

' Numair' she whimpered and started to cry, curling up on herself. He rushed to her side and held her in his 

arms as she sobbed. ' I'm so scared' she sobbed into his shoulder. Alanna and Jon had heard her start to cry 

and had come over to see what was wrong. No one said anything as they all stared at the couple. Maids 

rushed around in the background trying to wake the dead man, but all anyone could see was Numair and 

Daine. 

Rain pattered rhythmically on the roof and Numair looked solemnly out the window. He couldn't cry 

anymore there was nothing left. He stared at the garden that he and Daine had walked through so many 

times. Her cheerful face appeared in his vision and he smiled but it quickly disappeared. Last nights dinner 

was still on the table, cold and uneatable now. Nothing in his room had moved he felt like a shadow 

moving around the room at times, soulless, mindless. As you would when your life source, the one that 

made you live, that made you smile and cry was gone. He felt as though half his soul had died when she 

did. He sighed to himself and moved over to chair and curled up in it. Breathing in her sent. He always 

believed that you never loose someone all in one go. They slowly disappear in small bits. Her smell used to 

be everywhere, used to cover every bit of his being. He cried every time he found that that smell had 

disappeared from some place or another. It used to be in the closet, it had now gone from there weeks ago. 

It used to cover the bed and room, it wasn't so strong there any more. The only place that it was strong and 

noticeable was in this chair now. Her presence though seemed as strong as ever. He hugged the pillow and 

wished like nothing else that she was here now. Just for a moment so he could tell her that he loved her and 

how sorry he was and he then thought that, if he did that then he would never be able to let her go again. It 

was better to wish that he could move time back and hold her and live with her. And he would do 

everything that they said they would do one day and do it all then. Regrets. Time, what a wonderful thing, 

though he wished it didn't exist anymore. 

Alanna and Jon were confused as they left the house hastily. Daine was still sobbing quietly whispering 

that she wished she had never come here. Her small body shivered every now and then. Numair was as 

confused as Alanna and Jon. He didn't understand what was wrong. He couldn't see it. When he asked her 

what was wrong or what had happened she said that she didn't want to talk about it now. She said that she 

would tell them all about it over dinner. She had somewhere along the line collected herself and stopped 

being selfish. She started to remember that she was here to save the people of this village and she would do 

all in her power to do so. When they had arrived back in the inn and safe in their room she announced that 

she was going to try and reach out to these new immortals and no one could stop her. Numair had advised 

that that wasn't a good idea. She had just death glared him and he knew that no matter what he said it 

wouldn't change her mind. In the morning she told Jon and Alanna her plan. None of them agreed with it 

but they also knew that she had her mind set on this and she wasn't going to let it go. After breakfast she 

set her self up outside near the edge of the town. Alanna, Jon and Numair all hovered near by. After a 

couple of moments, you could tell that she had made contact with them. They all watched nervously. She 

caught her breathe then collapsed. The world seem to zero in on Numair as he watched her slowly fall to 

the ground….

NB: Don't you just hate me! I love cliff hangers…and I'm only going to continue when I get more reviews…so go ahead… continue! 


	5. Spiral

~ * Spiral *~ 

DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough!! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine!!! **Ehem** thanks. 

NB: This is really soppy, I can't help it, I'm in one of those moods…I j need some help in ending it otherwise it'll turn into a never ending story! So if have any ideas, please tell me! I was thinking of something really sad but then you'd all kill me! so please give me all your ideas, quires, statements, death threats and questions…I need major help!! Oh and sorry for all the short chapters…

He rushed to her side as fast as his body would allow him too. Alanna and Jon not to far behind. He 

scooped her up in his arms. " Daine. Daine" He kept on repeating as he checked her paulse. After awhile 

she squeezed his hand in response. He nearly cried with joy and release. He picked her up and carried her 

back to the Inn. He lightly placed her on the bed. She was still asleep, as he turned away from her he 

noticed and new cut on her arm. It was slit across her wrist, and was suddenly bleed steadily. As he 

watched another cut appeared across her face and she let out a scream while she was still asleep. Her body 

started to act as if it was fighting, though she still lied on the bed with her eyes shut. She was fighting ropes 

it looked like. And if she was fighting, she was loosing. He was horrified as he watched cuts and wounds 

appear randomly all over her body. He turned and screamed for Alanna and Jon to come quickly. A short 

while later they all entered the room. A doctor close at their heels. She was just lying their, her breathing 

coming in short quick breaths, as she slowly bleed to death from an invisible battle. They watched quitely 

as the doctor bandaged her up and checked her all over to make sure he hadn't missed anything…

~ 5 months later ~

He stared blankly at the food. He didn't want to eat, he didn't feel like it. He turned away from it and 

started to pace the room. The nightmare was still hanging in the air and he didn't dare close his eyes in fear 

that it would return. He had become emotionless, feeling less he didn't react to anything anymore. He was 

what had become of Daine before she had died. He looked out the window, he saw everything but nothing 

registered. Nothing meant anything to him anymore. His beloved books were collecting dust he hadn't 

opened them for ages. He still hadn't left his room, he wasn't going to either. He tried to image the world 

out side his room, and he couldn't anymore. This was his world. Nothing else existed out side of it. They 

all said that the kingdom needed him, they didn't need him, they needed his magic, his intelligence, they 

needed Daine. He sighed to himself. If he had of noticed, had of paid attention, had of persisted for her not 

to if he had not of taken advantage of the time they had she would still be alive. But he didn't and now she 

was dead. He curled up on the armchair, it was getting worn down with him sitting in it so often. Unaware 

of himself he fell asleep. In the corner of his room, a girl with brown curly hair appeared. She softly walked 

over to him, not making a noise. She looked down on his sleeping form. A tear trickled down her cheek. 

She reached down and touched him lightly on his cheek.

" I'm sorry Numair, I never meant to cause you so much pain." She sniffled. He stirred. He opened an eye, 

not wanting to know who had woken him up. He blinked when he saw her, and groaned

" I've gone insane now" He muttered to himself. He sat up. And looked at her, he saw her tears and re 

thought to himself. When he saw that it was her " Daine?" he whispered so softly, as if he made to much 

noise she would disappear. Tears welled in his eyes, then fell over the side leaving tracks down his cheeks. 

She nodded and knelt down to hug him. He threw his arms around her and sobbed. He held her tightly, not 

wanting to let go of her, never, wanting to go with her when and if she did leave. He would follow her to 

the ends of the earth. She cried with him, they found comfort in each others arms. When he had conducted 

himself enough he stared at her. " How?" was all he could manage. She just silently shook her head and 

touched him lightly. 

" Talk later, I can only be here for a while" She leant forward and timidly kissed him, as if it was their first 

kiss again. The kiss sent a electric tingle down Numair's spine. He let himself melt into her arms and body. 

" Daine, how are you here now?" He asked carefully, caressing her face. 

" My mother and father begged me to be able to live with them in the divine rhelms and seeming as I've done a lot to help they agreed. When I saw how you were living, or better yet not living I requested to be able to see you just for a short while to help you get over me." She kissed his hand and looked into his eyes. 

" Let me come with you" he begged

" I can't" 

" Why not?" 

" Because you can't, it's impossible"

" I don't want to live if you're not here" 

" Numair please…don't" She looked away from him. He squeezed her hand and bowed his head in 

submission. She turned back to him and kissed his forehead. Then she looked into the distance. " I have to 

go now" She whispered quietly. His head shot up and his eyes were pleading

" Don't go, I couldn't stand looseing you again." He quickly said quietly. 

She looked at him. " I love you Numair. Good bye."

He knew that that was it, he started to cry " I'm sorry, I love you so much, Goodbye." He didn't want to say 

it, but he had to. He would hate himself later. She kissed once more before she disappeared from his vision. 

He let out a scream and collapsed onto the floor, and cried for hours, not moving, not caring. He didn't see 

Alanna enter the room and watch with tears in her eyes before she quietly slipped out again. He only 

stopped when there was nothing else to come out of his eyes. He crawled over to his bed and flopped on it. 

He feel asleep, with red eyes and a heavy heart. 


	6. Chapter 6

A New Beginning

Two days after Daine's visit.

Numair woke with the sun shining through the window in golden glory. His first reaction was to moan and roll over away from the offending light. His second reaction was to turn back and look. He had never seen light this colour before, it was almost as if the gods had poured melted gold in through his window. A small almost un-distinguishable smile appeared on his lips. It was a beautiful day. It took him a few moments of admiring the wonderful dawn to realize that he had slept without nightmares last night. He had slept without dreams as well. This was the first morning since her death that he could say that he was refreshed by the night. His smile broadened a little, but it didn't last long, memories came rushing back towards him like a team of wild horses. Bracing himself he almost didn't realize that these memories didn't make him want to cry, they made him want to laugh. He snorted to himself as he remembered that Daine had visited him last night, and he was sure that this was all her doing. He glanced upwards and sent to her "This is sneaky Daine, this is below you!" He could almost feel her smile. He smiled also. Crawling out of bed he wandered over to the fire place and curled up into the big floppy chair that was the last remaining place with a strong sense of Daine. Turning his head into the chair he breathed in deeply and got a full smell of her. Usually this would make him burst into tears, she wasn't here for him to smell, it was his fault that she wasn't here, but the knowledge that she was alive, well alive in a sense, had somehow lifted a great weight off his shoulders. He closed his eyes and let the memories of her wash over him in a gentle wave, filling him with warmth as they made him smile or giggle. Like the time they went riding along the coast, Kit was riding in front of Daine and had decided that this would be a good time to try and learn how to fly. So using the force of the galloping horse Kit had launched herself out of the saddle with disastrous consequences! Daine and Numair had stopped directly, Daine had almost fallen out of the saddle from laughter at the tangled mess the dragonet had gotten herself into. Or the time that on the way to a ball Daine had decided to sidetrack to the stables to visit a mare who had just delievered. Numair had been able to convince Daine that she didn't need to huge the plasenta covered foal and had coaxed her into leaving the stable. Numair believing he had avoided a possible destruction of the dress had obviously been wrong. On the way back to the castle she had slipped over in a muddle and consequently got covered in mud. They had to go back to their rooms to change.

All these memories of her were strangely comforting. If Daine was here he would scold her for being so devious, but he understood what she was doing for him. He hated her for it, in a strange sort of way, he had been set in wallowing in his misery, he had been content to cry the rest of his life away. Guilt over her death was easy to live with this way. He still felt it, it was still there, like a black hole in his belly, sucking away at the life and memories. Even as he smiled he still couldn't help a few tears, he still felt empty, without, lacking. He still had no wish to remain without her. He briefly felt guilty for not being so sad anymore. His grief had been his escape, it felt guilty at living, at being alive while she was not. But that was no longer true, she was alive. She was with the gods. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to be by her side, so they could grow together, grow old together, have children and do all the things he wanted to do.

"I miss you Daine. How am I supposed to live without you?" if he paid close attention he could feel her sigh and gently carrass his cheek. Her love for him was like a constant flow. He could feel it even now and it filled him with warmth. Lost in his thoughts and contemplations, but no longer being sucked into the black-hole of grief he didn't notice the knock at the door. It came again, but this time a little louder, he looked up shocked momentarily like a meer-cat, He snorted at that thought, it was a typical Daine thought.

"Come-" he had to clear his throat and then he tried again "Come in" He called over his shoulder.

Kel entered the room with a force that followed her around. She was similar to Alanna, but she had a different force. He looked up and smiled at her. She stopped where she was and looked around the room for a second. Light was flowing brilliantly through the window, and Numair was smiling. Standing there shocked for a second she didn't know what to do or to say. She just looked at him.

"Did you." She asked " Did you just smile?" she said in disbelief. "Did you just smile at me?" He smiled again.

"Come on in. Have a seat" he said. She didn't move for a moment, just lowered her eyes and glared at him.

"This is some sort of trick, isn't it? You've gone insane or something, and if I walk over there, some sort of evil will befall me!" she said in a mocking voice, with a smile of her own. She was glad to see him finally recovering. She knew the feeling, and she knew that it would be some time still. It was hard after loosing someone. No doubt he'll start to feel guilty about being happy again soon. But while he was in a good mood she was going to enjoy it. Numair laughed slightly at her.

"Nothing will happen. Come on over, I want to finish telling my story to you" He pulled the chair that was closest to him, closer and lit the fire with magic.

"Can you ask Alanna, whom I am sure is still pacing around outside, for some breakfast. I am hungry!" Kel smiled and went out to ask Alanna for some breakfast. He waited for it. Waited for a little longer. Here it came. Alanna stormed into the room, looked around momentarily and than found him, smiling at her.

"YOU!" she pointed an accusing finger at him. She was smiling but pretending to be angry. He just smiled at her again. She glared back. "I'm only being a servant this one last time." She said as she left the room. Kel waited for her to go and then closed the door again.

"Welcome back Numair." He gave a slight smile, but she could see that his mood was dampening again.

Numair looked at Kel, he was suddenly assailed with an over-whelming guilt. The memories of her death were coming back, he wanted to fight them, to curl up into his chair and shut them out and shut the world out as well. He fought this compulsion. The memories had to be dealt with. He gave a weak smile to Kel.

"I understand" is all that she said.


	7. This Night of Nights

This Night Of All Nights

DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine! **Ehem** thanks.

Kel sat down and settled into the chair. Numair looked at her, she could still see the deep hurt that was harbored there, but she could see also, that a healing had begun, a healing that had needed to begin a long time ago. She smiled at him, and he gave a weak smile back. The light out side was starting to lift, indicating the passage of time the room was still filled with light but the rays were not showering directly through the window any more.

"where did I leave off?" Numair, asked her but more asked himself. "Ah that's right. Daine had tried to contact these new immortals. Jon, Alanna and myself still had no idea what was going on and Daine was still un-concious from her efforts so she couldn't tell us either. Her wounds on her body were healing fast, and nothing new had showed up. The battle that she had been fighting had obviously ended. No-one knew what was happening in her dreams" –

6 months earlier

Daine was in a place that she didn't recognize. The last thing she remembered was reaching out with her magic. Instantly she realized that the whole town was under a magical haze, something very powerful had cast a net over the town, and had somehow managed to maintain it even though this feat was one un-heard of. That was the first abnormal thing she noticed, the second had been the color of the magic. It was like a dirty, tainted green color. Frowning mentally and physically she reached out to it. .The moment her magic had touched the other she was transported somewhere she didn't recognize. She was vaguely away that her body had collapsed outside of the town but she was acutely aware that she, herself was no longer outside the town. Now she sat in her new place and thought about what had happened. The first thing she had realized when she had touched the magic was that it belonged to a human and not an immortal, she had an almost phobic reaction, a great need to get out of this place and warn Numair. She was restless and her phobia of this place was making her palms sweat, although, she noted to herself, how can her palms be sweaty when she is in a mental state not a physical one. This thought just annoyed and frightened her further. The only thing she knew was the over powering notion to get out of this place. It was starting to creep her out, and, she had to admit to herself, she was getting a rising feeling of fear. The fear had started to engulf her, she could feel her stomach sink, feel the blood drain from her face and the adrenaline start to rush. Breathe. She told herself. Calm down and just breathe. Nothing wrong can happen. Despite repeating this mantra to herself she couldn't fight the rising feeling off doom.

"I won't out" She muttered to herself. Chewing on her bottom lip she decided that while she couldn't do anything, which annoyed her greatly, she might as well explore this otherwise fascinating phenomena. As she walked and wandered around the fear that had started to consume her, to make her thoughts go cloudy and irrational, started to ebb away. Where ever she was it was amazingly life like. It was similar to the woods that they had traveled through to get to the besieged town. Details here and there were fuzzy and unclear, a few trees were the wrong color, the clouds that flowed across the sky repeated themselves. Her brow furrowed in concerntration. From what she could gather, or what she thought at least, was that some of the details were fuzzy and unclear because the owner of this place was unclear about the details themselves. Which lead her to believe that the person how owned the dirty green magic, lived in the woods themselves. The strangely colored trees and repeating sky made her think that this person may be more than a little mentally unstable.

"Great" she said aloud. "Just what I need. To be caught in the imagination or memory of a mentally ill person" Daine wished greatly that she could call out to Numair, and Alanna to tell them that she was alright just otherwise trapped in some weirdos imagination. Eventually Daine gave up wandering around the imagined woods, for she found that just like the sky it eventually started to repeat its self.

"well this is just fantastic."

She sat down on a nearby log.

"that is strange" she thought after awhile "there are no animals…" this thought prompted her to reach out with her magic, to see if she could sense anything. She was greatly disappointed, she couldn't even feel Numair, or Alanna, there was no trace of any magic, or any animals either in the outside world. She was starting to get annoyed.

"Excuse me!" she yelled "EXCUSE ME! Person who owns this geographically incorrect imagined place, can you please LET ME OUT!" there was no response. Daine sighed. She wasn't liking this much. This had gone beyond fun now. Fustration and anger started to rise in her, replacing the fear that had so hard tried to engulf her. The anger though was just as dangerous, it had a tendency to blind and hinder more than fear. But she couldn't help it. She was beyond caring at this stage, she doubted that she was going to need her wits in this place anyway. There was no harm in getting angry. So Daine sat on the log and fumed, and muttered dark things and words that would make Numair blush.

But while she was consumed by her anger she failed to realize that she was no longer alone……


	8. The Stars

The Stars

DISCLAMIER: I own none of Tamora Pierce's characters ie, Jon, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Kel. Unfortunately I'm not good enough! They are all hers, but the plot ( if there is one) is mine, mine, mine all mine! **Ehem** thanks.

Daine was still busily muttering away to herself about, well everything, when she heard breathing behind her. She stilled, stopped muttering and forced her self to look around.

"oh god" she thought to herself "I'm a goner now. I knew I shouldn't have insulted this guys place, he might not know that it is geographically incorrect…" Her eyes were squeezed tight, she was suddenly very scared. Once she had turned around she peeped an eye open to see the owner of her prison…..

Six Months Later in Numairs Rooms

"Daine was still unconscious after two days. The doctors weren't worried, they said that she was otherwise fine, they had seen coma's like these before and they were confident that she would wake up soon. I was so sure. There was something not right about the coma, there was something not right in what caused it in the first place. Up until then none of us had tried to reach out to her with our gift, which was strange. In fact we hadn't even once used our magic since arriving in the town. After this realization had come upon me I asked Alanna if she had used her gift and her response was the same as mine. She hadn't, and she was fustrated in wandering why she hadn't. We finally figured out that we must have been a victim of this immortal. It must not have wanted us to use magic. So with that realization we used our gift, we reached out to Daine and both noticed the same thing. She was surrounded by a weird colored magic. A color I know for certain I had never seen before, and never knew existed." Numair stopped when he heard a knock at the door. "That" he said to Kel with a smile. "Must be breakfast" He opened the door with his gift to receive a grumpy looking Alanna.

"took your time!" he said and was shot with a death glare that would quell a full grown dragon.

"This is the last time I act as servant! We have servants for a reason!" she shot back at him. She was burdened with a tray of assorted fruits, nuts and breads. There was two steamy cups upon the laden tray as well. Numairs tummy grumbled in appreciation. Alanna unloaded the tray onto the table and turned to leave.

"Won't you stay? We have just received a wonderful array of food here!" he said with a mischivious smile. Alanna threw a mislaid pillow at him.

"I would love too!" all three of them dug into the food. While chewing on a bread roll Kel looked at Numair.

"So you had been controlled by this immortal? He had somehow made you not want to use your gift?"

"It would appear that way, or else we had a lapse in memory! I mean we were even closing doors without the gift and making coffee!" Alanna said. Numair nodded his head in agreement with a mouth full off nuts. After he finished and had swallowed he turned to Alanna

"I was just explaining to Kel that day we first decided to look at Daine, it was about two days after she collapsed? In any case. Once we had discovered that she was surrounded by a magical gift we knew instantly that her coma was not natural"

"Which means that she may never have come out of it" Alanna butted in. "we had no way of knowing whose gift it was, so had noway of contacting or finding the owner to get her out of it. Which meant that all we could do was sit by and let her fight the battle herself."

"I wasn't very happy about that idea." Numair put in

"And neither was I but we had no choice. But we did decide to do a bit of investiagating around the town. We thought that the gift belonged to someone in the village, someone who may not know they had the gift and was sub-consiously trying to protect Daine."

Six Months Eariler

Daine almost fell off the log. She had peeped her eye open to spot a little girl! She had then open both just to be sure it wasn't some sort of optical illusion. No. It was a girl alright. Then she fell into a fit of hysterical nervous laughter and had almost fell off the log. The girl though just stood there watching Daine and didn't say anything. Eventually Daine calmed down enough to look at her again and act like a normal human being.

"Hello! My name is Daine. What is your name?"

"Ulixes" came the small reply. The little girl was dressed in a pink dress, covered in lace and ribbons. She was hugging a teddy bear tightly to her.

"What is your teddies name?" Daine asked gently.

"He doesn't have a name."

"Oh. How did you get here?" Daine asked after a brief silence. The little girl was starting to make her feel uncomfortable, which was ridiculous because she was just a little girl, who was hugging her cute little teddy bear. She looked so helpless and vunerable. The little girl looked at Daine directly now, which put Daines nerves on edge.

"I live here."

"You live here?"

"yes."

"So you….you are the creator of this place?"

"creator? I just live in the woods."

"Ah I see…my mistake… so… do you have any parents?" Daine nervous were almost falling off cliffs now. This little girl wasn't as innocent as she appeared, there was something wrong about her too.

"what are you doing here?" asked the girl.

"Me, oh…I'm lost."

"me too."

Great, the owner of this place is lost. How am I supposed to get out of here, when the owner is trapped in their own mind. The girl was looking at her now so Daine smiled.

"Do you have parents?"

"yes"

"are they here?"

"They left me here"

Ok… Daine thought, so a troubled little girl whose parents abandoned her in the woods…what no now I'm thinking like her! These are the woods, they are imagined woods, they are a figment of this little girls twisted imagination. And now I want out.

"Do you know a way out?"

"There is no way out."

This was just become worse and worse Daine thought, she was becoming afraid of the little girl, which she was laughing at herself for. Obviously she was going a little bit mad, but she was also feeling a little like a chlostrophobic. She wanted out. And she wanted out now. Daine smiled at the little girl. The little girl didn't smile back. The little girl's eyes turned red and suddenly the little girl wasn't so little after all.

"Oh goddess" daine muttered as she watched the seemingly innocent little Ulixes turn into a very very large dragon looking creature.


End file.
